Junior School

Head of Junior School

Jenny Richards

Welcome to the Junior School. (Kindergarten - Year 4)

We created our Junior School like the other schools within our school quite deliberately. The early years of formal schooling are so critical to ongoing development and progression and require some very targeted initiatives. The students in Junior School benefit from the Best Start program in Kindergarten, Reading Recovery in Year One, L3 across the school, TEN (Teaching Early Numeracy) and 7 Steps to Writing Success amongst others. Sitting across all of these programs is our ongoing participation in the Early Action for Success program. Our EAfS program has been highlighted by the leaders of the program in Sydney as a lighthouse example of best practice - our Instructional Leader, Charmaine Endacott, has been asked to present at numerous forums across the state and we have hosted and will be hosting teachers from across our local area and increasingly from other areas around the state. They are coming because of the outstanding program that Charmaine has developed and the fantastic outcomes that our students are achieving under their teachers guidance.

The Principal, Michael Rathborne, and the Deputy Principal, Tracey Jenner, have an oversight role across the whole school.

The Head of Junior School is responsible for the overall coordination of the daily running of the Junior School and in conjunction with the rest of the school executive for setting curriculum directions.

The Head of Wellbeing, Bruce Nield, coordinates student wellbeing initiatives, learning support with our Learning and Support Teachers and our School Learning Support Officers.

Within the whole school Wellbeing structure there is a Junior School Wellbeing coordinator (Sophie Kelly) who assists the Head of Wellbeing specifically within the Junior School.

Any discussion of general matters, issues or concerns can be raised with class teachers or any member of the structure outlined above.

Uralla Firebrigade Championships

This morning Kindergarten - Year 2 travelled to Hampden Park to watch some very educational demonstrations. The most interesting being the oil fire in a pan on a hot stove. Water just made an explosion and was not productive at all. The children now know that putting the lid on the pan or using a fire blanket is a more productive option for extinguishing the fire.